Are Google Ads actually worth it for small business?

Google Ads: the thing every small business owner is suspicious of, because someone once spent $500 and got nothing. Fair suspicion. But 'Google Ads don't work' is like saying 'cooking doesn't work' after burning a pie. The tool is fine. The setup was the problem.

When Google Ads are genuinely worth it

When people actively search for what you sell. 'Emergency plumber Auckland', 'wedding caterer Wellington', 'tyres Hamilton' — these are high-intent humans with a problem and a wallet. Showing up at the exact moment they're looking? That's worth paying for. It's the closest thing to printing customers.

Especially if you sell online — ads can put products in front of buyers on day one, before your SEO kicks in.

When they're a waste of money

When nobody searches for what you do (you need brand awareness, not search ads), when your landing page is rubbish (ads send people somewhere — if that somewhere is bad, you burn money), or when you target broad keywords like 'plumber' instead of 'emergency plumber West Auckland'. Broad = expensive = pointless.

Do the free stuff first

Before you spend a cent on ads, do the free things — claim your Google profile, get reviews, make your site mobile-friendly. That gives you a baseline. Then layer ads on top for the keywords you're not ranking for yet.

And make your mobile site solid first — sending ad traffic to a site that doesn't work on a phone is setting fire to your budget.

Start stupidly small

$10–$20 a day. Not $500 a month to start. Measure what you get, tweak, and only scale what's actually working. Ads are not set-and-forget — they're set-and-watch for the first month, then mostly look after themselves.

We set up and manage Google Ads for small businesses without the agency theatre. If you want to try it sensibly, give us a yell.